Albert Salmi
Albert Salmi (March 11, 1928 – April 22, 1990) was an American actor.
Biography
Albert Salmi was born in Brooklyn, New York to Finnish immigrant parents, and following a stint in the Army, took up acting as a career, studying Method acting with Lee Strasberg. In 1955, Salmi starred in Bus Stop on Broadway. He was asked to go on the road with the show, where he fell in love with and married one of his co-stars, former child actress Peggy Ann Garner on May 16, 1956. Their only child, Catherine Ann Salmi, died in 1995 at the age of 38.
He made his film debut as Smerdjakov in the 1958 movie version of The Brothers Karamazov, with Yul Brynner, Lee J. Cobb, William Shatner, and Richard Basehart. Salmi's next film was The Bravados in which he played one of the villains hunted down by hero Gregory Peck. The National Board of Review presented Salmi with the NBR Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in both of these films.
He held several memorable roles on "The Twilight Zone" including Of Late I Think of Cliffordville and appeared twice as the incorrigible pirate, Alonzo P. Tucker on "Lost in Space." He appeared in a "Gunsmoke" episode as a killer who comes to an ironic end. He also guest starred in "Combat!", and many other television shows.
Salmi and Garner divorced on March 13, 1963. Around the same time, he started a role as the comical Yadkin on TV's "Daniel Boone" opposite Fess Parker. He also had a regular role on the 1970s TV law series Petrocelli. In the series "Land of the Giants" last episode he appeared as a pair of evil twins.
A high point of Salmi's career came in 1968, when he was cast in the Arthur Miller play The Price. He played the lead on Broadway and in London.
In 1990, Salmi and his second wife, Roberta, were found shot to death in their home in Spokane, Washington. It was reported by friends and other family members that Salmi was suffering from depression, and his wife, to whom he was very devoted, was in poor health at the time. Albert moved out of the house when the couple underwent a separation. He was living in Idaho, when he couldn't bear living without Roberta, when he drove to their Rockwood home, and shot her, then turned the gun on himself.
Further reading
- Grabman, Sandra (2005). Spotlights & Shadows - The Albert Salmi Story. Albany: BearManor Media ISBN 1-59393-001-1
External links
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